Doug Kaye's Blog

I’m currently planning photography workshops in Cuba (legal from the U.S.) for November 2015 and January 2016. If you would like to be on the mailing list (Google Group) to be notified as the plans evolve. please send email to me at workshops@rds.com.

I’m about to run out of disk storage for my Lightroom image catalog, so in preparation for a new iMac — one that supports a Thunderbolt disk system — I’ve decided it’s time to upgrade my backup systems. This is a long blog post, but it thoroughly covers what I’m now using for backup and what I learned in the process of getting to the final result.

My Former Backup Scheme

My backup strategy for the past three or four years was “pretty good”. My first-level backup was from my iMac to an Apple Time Capsule via Time Machine. For the second level, I made two copies at the end of every month of each of my internal SSD and 2TB rotating drive to two pairs of portable USB drives. Why two sets of removable backups? One set I kept off site in a storage locker. The other set I kept here at home for two reasons: (1) I’m actually paranoid enough that I wanted one set always off site (i.e., not in-transit) so I took a new set to the storage locker each month and only then retrieved the previous month’s set. Otherwise I’d have both the old and new sets at home simultaneously; (2) Although I’ve never had to recover from a major disaster like fire or theft, I have occasionally needed to recover a corrupted or accidentally deleted file. Having a full backup here in the house makes that very easy. Sure, I’ve got Time Machine, but I’ve had that completely fail on me and lost everything on the Time Capsule. Time Machine by itself is not an adequate backup solution.

I sync each of the two drives in my iMac to a separate shared folders on the local NAS backup server every six hours using Carbon Copy Cloner. Once a day, at midnight, I then replicate the shared folders on the local and remote backup servers using Synology’s built-in shared-folder syncing. I’m storing the files on the NAS servers in sparsebundles, the same format used by Time Machine. The synchronization uses the standard rsync utility, which transfers only disk blocks that have been modified since the last pass.

I don’t recommend this solution for beginners. I’ve got quite a bit of experience configuring and managing Linux servers, so these DiskStations are almost like old friends to me. Synology has done an excellent job in making their servers easy to setup and manage, but I still think it would be a bit scary and frustrating for someone who wasn’t already familiar with Linux and disk/file servers.

Intermission: If all you care about is the solution, you can stop here. But if you want to understand why I’ve settled on this solution for backup, and the tests and considerations that went into making these selections, read on!

Sony updates its very popular RX100 MKII with a new third version. The camera is already being heralded as the best-ever compact or point-and-shoot. But at $800, it’s also the most expensive. The new model touts a cool pop-up electronic viewfinder (EVF) in lieu of a hot shoe, and an excellent new lens that mimics a fast (f/1.8-2.8) mid-rage 24-70mm (full-frame equivalent) zoom. The image quality is great, but at that price, Frederick Van Johnson and I ask, “Who’s this for?”

Update: It appears this entire project is no longer necessary. When I did this a few months ago, no one was offering an intervalometer for the Sony Multi-Terminal port. Now it appears there are some out there: http://goo.gl/Iy4zMJ

One weakness of the Sony a7/a7r/a7s and a6000 ecosystems is the lack of an intervalometer. There are a few options like TriggerTrap, but that and some others depend on a mobile phone, which seems unnecessarily complex and unreliable. There are a number of videos and articles demonstrating how to combine a Sony remote and an inexpensive intervalometer, but they don’t provide enough detail for those who don’t want to experiment. Here are the step-by-step instructions.

1. Get the parts.

I used a Sony RM-VPR1 wired remote and this intervalometer. You’ll also need some two-conductor narrow gauge wire (~22 gauge works), a soldering iron, and optionally a connector if you want to be able to use the remote without the intervalometer attached.

(Not shown: the cable that connects the Sony remote to the camera.)

2. Disassemble the remote.

Four external screws and one that secures the circuit board to the case.

3. Cut a notch for the wire.

Use a small knife or drill to cut a notch into the rear of the remote’s case for the wire to pass through.

4. Solder the wire to the remote’s switch.

Solder the two-conductor wire to the remote’s main switch as shown above. (Click to enlarge.)

5. Cut the connector off of the intervalometer.

I left about 8″ of wire coming out of the intervalometer.

6. Use a connector to mate the intervalometer to the remote.

As shown above, the wire connected to point A should mate with the white wire coming out of the intervalometer. Point B should mate with the intervalometer’s yellow wire. (Polarity matters!) The intervalometer’s red wire is unused.

I used a 3-conductor molex connector as shown above. Because I keep the two components connected all the time, I’ve secured the connector using cable ties as shown earlier.

7. Test!

Connect the remote to the camera. Both the remote and the intervalometer should be able to trigger the shutter. Don’t forget to enable the remote in the camera’s menus.

8. Reassemble the remote.

Route the wire through the remote as shown below. This will act as strain relief and won’t interfere with the operation of the remote’s buttons.

That’s all there is. You should now have all of the intervalometer’s functions as well as the original functions of the Sony remote.

The Sony A7s is being heralded as “Camera of the Year” by some reviewers, Frederick and I take a look at the third camera in Sony’s a7 series. While offering a sensor with only 12MP, the a7s is getting a lot of attention for a sensor that can shoot up to ISO 409,600 as well as being one of the first still-image camera that also produces 4K video.

Does it live up to all the buzz? And who really needs a camera that can shoot in the dark? And what about that 12MP sensor? Isn’t that really heading in the wrong direction? I explains why 12MP may be enough for you and why a high-ISO sensor may be important to everyday photography.

The long-awaited latest Lumix “G” flagship camera breaks new ground: It can shoot 4K video and save it directly to an SD card. So this week we invited video guru Dave Dugdale to join Frederick and me to give us his two cents.

Dave and I put the GH4 through some very different paces. I wanted to see what would happen if he shot 4K video specifically with the goal of extracting still images. Check out how well the GH4 did in both our tests.

The a6000 replaces Sony’s NEX-6 and at only $600 (body only, street price) you might think this is just another entry-level camera, comparable to a point-and-shoot. But you’d be wrong. Sony claims this is the world’s fastest autofocusing mirrorless camera and is now the top-of-the-line in their APS-C sensor line.

I put the a6000 through some serious usage tests including an intense week of shooting on the streets of New York City. And while Frederick and I lament the fact that Sony still doesn’t appear to understand the value of features like touch screens and external mic jacks, you’ll also hear whether I think the a6000 is a good choice regardless of these weaknesses.

Based on previously using the X-E1 and X-E2, I started this review with quite high expectations. And while the X-T1 is certainly one of Fujifilm’s greatest cameras to date, he didn’t find that it comes up #1 by every criterion. Controls? Autofocus? Bracketing? No touch LCD? (What’s up with that?) Hear what Frederick and I have to say about it.

Fujifilm cameras produce excellent quality images and Fuji has many fans, including me. To their great in-camera emulations of classic film stocks, Fujifilm has added the claim that their flagship X-T1 is the fastest autofocusing camera on the market. But does the X-T1 live up to the hype?

The OM-D E-M10 is Olympus’ smallest and least-expensive micro four-thirds camera to date. Is it an entry-level MFT body? A good second camera? And how does it stack up to the venerable E-M5? Check out the latest episode of All About the Gear.

I put the new puppy up against it’s larger, older brother (E-M5) and the Panasonic Lumix GM1. Along they way I take a deep dive into the issue of diffraction and why MFT cameras seem to have plateaued at 16 megapixels. It’s a discussion that every photographer will want to hear, regardless of the size of your sensor.

The latest episode of All About the Gear covers the D4s, Nikon’s latest flagship camera that can shoot at an amazing ISO 409,6000. As Frederick says, “It’s so sensitive, it can see the future.” But is that claim hype or reality? And who should spend $6,500 for this camera?

I spent three weeks shooting with this beast and have been wearing a wrist brace as a souvenir. The AAtG team takes a break from the small-camera mirrorless world to see what’s new in the old world of DSLRs.

The Lytro is the first commercially available light-field camera. There’s been a lot of buzz (and even controversy) surrounding this revolutionary focus-later device, but it’s not clear whether this is an important development or just a gimmick. Frederick interviewed the folks at Lytro before the camera was released, and now I’ve spent two weeks putting it through its paces, learning about the science and technology of light-field photography, and figuring out whether you might want to own one. Watch the review on All About the Gear.

The Nikon DF (for “Digital fusion”) is at first glance the technology of a Nikon D4 sensor (at half the price of a D4) in a D600-class body that touts compatibility with classic Nikkor lenses. But that’s just the full half of the glass.

I spent three weeks with this strange beast and while I love the image quality and compatibility with old lenses, it’s an ergonomic disaster. Frederick probes deeper to discover both the half-full and half-empty attributes of Nikon’s play in the retro-camera world.

Olympus claim the OM-D E-M1 has the fastest autofocus of any camera, but is that really true? The E-M1 also has a new 16MP sensor, but does it deliver better images than the popular OM-D E-M5, which now sells for almost half the price? Check out the latest episode of All About the Gear.

I’d like to welcome our new sponsor and partner, Hunt’s Photo and Video. If you click on the image below it will take you to a special offer to save $200 on the OM-D E-M1 + lens through February 28, 2014.

The long-anticipated Sony a7 and a7R have been called the cameras of the year by some. I was an early fanboy, but does the a7 live up to the hype and my expectations?

The a7 and a7R are the first full-frame, mirrorless, autofocusing interchangeable-lens cameras. Together, they’re strong competitors for the Leica 240 and the Nikon D800E. But the native lens selection is meager. The sweet spot may be to combine the new Sonys with third-party lenses.Continue reading →

Frederick Van Johnson and I explore the Sony QX10 and QX100 “lens cameras” in this episode of All About the Gear.

Once again, Sony is showing that it’s not afraid to innovate and put out breakthrough products that might be a bit ahead of their time. The QX cameras are definitely in that category. Not yet ready for prime time, they may be more an indication of what’s to come than the end of a line.

I love this camera. As with their X100S (read my review), the X-E1 is another example of how Fujifilm can make a camera with almost everything just right. Frederick Van Johnson and I discussed the X-E1 on episode #8 of All About the Gear.

Although much of the buzz this year has been about small, mirrorless cameras, the big-boy DSLR makers (Nikon and Canon) haven’t been entirely asleep at the switch. The new Canon 70D is most notable for it’s groundbreaking Dual Pixel CMOS autofocus sensor, which is used in video and Live View modes. The Canon 70D and an explanation of autofocus technologies are the topics of this episode of All About the Gear.